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To the general public, judges seem detached from reality when they don't send someone to prison for such a mindless and dangerous act of violence.

Thankfully, perhaps miraculously, this crazy incident passed without any damage being caused to anyone or anything other than an obliterated car window.

But we report all too often on incidents where a knife was being carried which ends up being used unexpectedly, with the heartbreaking outcome being a young person losing their life.

Whenever we meet a relative who has lost a loved one to knife crime the impact is the same.

The grief is all consuming.

Their life will never be the same again.

Simply finding the willpower to get up in the morning can be a struggle.

Joshua Gardner chased after the car and kicked one of the rear passenger doors

That's why sentences for simply carrying a knife should surely be much harsher.

Judges can only apply the law so perhaps the law needs changing.

One comment we see repeatedly when we publish stories on knife crime is that the minimum sentence for carrying a knife should be 10 years in prison.

More prisons might need to be built. Taxes may need to rise to pay for it.

But it might have a dramatic impact.

Would youngsters be as likely to carry a knife if they knew that simply being caught with it tucked down their trousers could lead to them spending the next decade behind bars?

What sort of message did Judge Anuja Dhir QC send when she allowed Gardner to walk free from court? If she was hoping to send out a strong message to those carrying and using knives on our streets, she failed misserably.

Yes, there are a number of factors she had to consider when sentencing. Like the fact Gardner was kidnapped at gunpoint by a gang over a friend’s drug debt just weeks before the zombie-knife attack.